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Using the FW1884 with Pro Tools
Pro Tools Free
This software is available as a free download from Digidesign. It records and plays back
up to eight tracks of audio and 48 tracks of MIDI, and has many of the plugin and
editing power of the more highend versions of Pro Tools. It uses Apple Sound Manager
on Mac OS 9 and Windows MME drivers. As of the time of this writing, Digidesign
hasn’t announced a Mac OS X version of the product.
The FW1884 functions as a control surface in HUI emulation mode with Pro Tools Free.
Just add a “HUI” in the Pro Tools “Peripherals” window and you’ll have full transport,
editing and mixing control. Select Sound Manager (Mac OS 9) or MME (Windows) as
your audio system to get 2channel input and output. You can also use the fourport MIDI
interface via OMS (Mac).
Pro Tools LE
Pro Tools LE is a version of Pro Tools that requires one of Digidesign’s interfaces to
function, you can’t use the FW1884 as the audio interface for this software. However,
you could use the FW1884’s mic preamps, line inputs and ADAT inputs, submixed to a
stereo signal, and record this digitally into Pro Tools using the FW1884’s S/PDIF
output.
HUI emulation works with this software – all of the transport, editing and mixing
commands supported in other versions of Pro Tools work in LE. You can also use the
fourport MIDI interface via OMS (Mac).
Pro Tools TDM/ Pro Tools HD
The professional version of Pro Tools is called Pro Tools TDM. Currently at version 6.1,
this is the version that ships with their Mix and HDseries hardware. It offers 128 tracks
of playback at 192kHz, TDM plugins and many other features.
Like Pro Tools LE, this software requires the user to have Digidesign hardware to
function. Therefore, the FW1884 can’t function as the audio interface for this Pro Tools
system. You can still use the FW1884’s mic preamps, line inputs and ADAT inputs,
submixed internally to a stereo signal, and record this digitally into Pro Tools using the
FW1884’s S/PDIF output.
You still get full HUI control surface functionality with the Fw1884, from editing and
transport controls to mixing and automation control. You can also use the fourport MIDI
interface via OMS (Mac).
